Ahoy! Pirates off of Somalia’s coast are more destructive than you think…

Pirate attacks are increasing off the coast of Somalia, and committing atrocities that would put even Davy Jones to shame. While the pirates hijack ships, the Somali people end up walking the plank in this maritime struggle. Somalia relies heavily on the developed world for aid, and piracy is keeping this important commodity from reaching the shore. The U.N. is doing its part in organizing the international community to combat these scurvy-ridden sea rats, but there is something you can do to help make the lives of countless Somalis better.

Women in Somalia are struggling to survive against many hardships. In addition to the horrific situation in some areas of Somalia, women face discrimination throughout the country. One of the obstacles they face is the inability to attend college. This lack of education leads to a lack of representation in government, business, and leaves them with no opportunity to succeed. Only 4% of women in Somalia can pursue higher education!!! With your help, we can change this. The Somali Women’s Scholarship Fund is working to send deserving women in Somalia to school so they can be effective, productive members of society. Watch our video, and see how you can help here. Pirates depend on instability in this region to continue their marauding ways, so kick them in their booty, and help Somali women!

Rhinos are Cool, Poaching is Not

Rhinos, those fascinating animals with unfortunate horns in the middle of their faces, have a tough life. Not only do they have to live with the largest facial "decoration" of any species, some humans have decided rhino horns are way cooler decorating their walls.

Back in 1977 the countries of the world came together at the United Nations to protect these odd creatures from poaching. Now the UN has recruited Interpol, the USA, China, Kenya, and others to be real world Planeteers. The United Nations wants to ensure a peaceful existence for all--even if you have horns growing out of your face!

For more on the United Natons' work to the protect rhinos, click here.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon Congratulates President-Elect Barack Obama

“This is, I believe an historic opportunity,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, extending his heartfelt congratulations to United States President-Elect Barack Obama. With the many challenges facing the United Nations including the Millennium Development Goals, nuclear proliferation, the food and energy crisis, climate change and global financial turmoil, the Secretary-General is encouraged by Obama’s repeated message of hope, multilateralism and diplomacy while campaigning. The two (very busy) men met last year while on a flight between Washington and New York, taking the time to talk about the pressing goals of the UN. The Secretary General reported that he was very optimistic about their relationship in the future, noting that Obama “was very engaging and he knew a lot about the United Nations.”

Zidane and Ronaldo Play to End Poverty

Two football kings, eight matches, and one goal: ending poverty. Football legend Zidane and Brazilian star Ronaldo, UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors, are joining hands and feet once again to end poverty and raise awareness about the Millennium Development Goals. The upcoming 6th annual “Match Against Poverty” will take place in Fès, Morocco on November 17th. The project originally launched in 2003 seeking to promote each of the goals with a corresponding match. This year’s match will be themed by the first Millennium Development Goal “Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger,” while marking the half way point to the 2015 deadline set by the UN General Assembly.

Proceeds from the previous five Matches have benefited anti-poverty projects ranging from supporting female entrepreneurs to the construction of sports centers for street children and the disadvantaged. Funds have gone to support projects in Brazil, Burkina Faso, Bhutan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Comoros, Cuba, Colombia, Democratic Republic of Congo, El Salvador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Haiti, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Morocco, Namibia, Niger, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Uganda, Tanzania, and Viet Nam.

Protecting the Globe's Greatest Treasures

Many key words and themes spring to mind when one thinks of the work of the United Nations, but sand drawing and ox-herding are probably not some of them! In an effort to further protect the world’s most treasured cultural items and traditions, UNESCO established The Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in Istanbul, Turkey on Tuesday. The new list includes about 90 treasures, which include Indonesian shadow puppetry, the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, textile art in Peru, polyphonic singing of Aka Pigmies of the Central African Republic, Mexico’s indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead, sand drawings in Vanuatu, and much more. These unique elements join a multitude of other important cultural and historical characteristics and traditions covered by the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. Next time the United Nations comes up, new things may now come to mind!

The UN Embraces the Digital Age: Text Messaging for Change

The UN embraces the Digital Age: Text Messaging for Change

Pop!Tech, the global technology conference, was held last week, unveiling new projects designed to effect global change through technology. This conference displayed ways in which technology developed in countries of abundance could be used to ease the burdens in countries of scarce resources. One of these innovations is as simple as making text messaging more accessible to organizations working in developing countries. Ken Banks demonstrated FrontlineSMS, free software designed to harness the power of text messaging. Humanitarian groups and NGO’s can download this free software and use it to send information to people working in the field, so necessary information is never far away. The UN is using this technology to send security alerts in Afghanistan, while MercyCorps is using this software to send market prices to farmers and power a healthcare network in Malawi.

It was all about the Blue Flag!

Friday October 24th, the UN celebrated its birthday, marking 63 years to the date since its mandate began in 1945. Like the rest of the world, the UN has evolved quite rapidly over these years, containing 192 member states and thousands of programs. The occasion was celebrated in an array of events throughout the whole world, which included film screenings in DC, blood drives in Namibia, concerts in New York, and tree-planting in Darfur; The UN Yearbook was also launched and a ceremony was held in Moscow honoring 60 years of UN presence in Russia.

We might ask, what does UN Day really mean? Well, this day celebrates the UN’s success throughout time. It also promotes the values inscribed within the Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as honoring the everyday struggle to make this a peaceful and just world.

UN Saving 64,000 Children from Malnutrition in Somalia

As the situation in Somalia is still extremely dire, Children are some of the hardest hit, and proper nutrition is a serious issue. Malnutrition is one of the largest problems confronting children in the east African nation, and the United Nations is taking revolutionary proactive steps in providing for those who can't provide for themselves. Internally displaced peoples in Somalia make up a large portion of those who are suffering from malnutrition. Partnering with the World Bank, the UN is set to distribute a product called "Supplementary Plumpy" to more than 64,000 children over the next six months. The product is a peanut based paste that requires no preparation to consume. Studies show that malnourished children who consume the paste are able to recover from malnourishment in two months, and protect themselves for another four. This aid comes at a time of increased conflict and tension concerning the pirate situation off the coast, and increased international attention to the area.

Much Needed Assistance for Kyrgyz Youth

Children in Kyrgyzstan, the second poorest nation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, will receive increased attention and assistance thanks to UNICEF. In a country where over fifty percent of the population lives in poverty, and more than twenty-five percent live in extreme poverty, children are some of the hardest hit. About half of Kyrgyz babies between six months and two years old are anemic, and many children under five years old show signs of stunted growth as a result of malnutrition. However, UNICEF has elected to step up funding to help improve the dire situation in Kyrgyzstan after Ann Veneman, the agency’s Executive Director, visited the nation recently. Pledging $270,000 in additional funding, Veneman said, “Giving a child a solid nutritional start in life is critical to physical, mental and social development.”

Stand-Up and break the Guinness Records!

Last year in the week of Oct. 17th more than 43 million people around the world Stood Up against poverty and broke the Guinness World Record for the largest stand up in a week. Today the movement to end extreme poverty is attempting to break that record and inspire 1% of the population (a massive 67 million!) to Stand Up and demand our world leaders to keep the promises and goals they set in 2000 and take action against poverty.

Given the challenges facing the international community such as halting and containing the effects of climate change, the rise in food prices, and the global economic crisis we must not forget about the world’s poor and how they are disproportionately affected by these issues. Not acting is no longer an option. We are half way to the finish line, and while tremendous achievements have been made, we (and our leaders) still have a long way to go.

So STAND UP and grasp the immense power YOU have to change the course of the world! STAND UP and give 5 minutes of your thoughts to positive ways in which we can tackle this problem! STAND UP! And don’t sit on it!
Across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania, the global movement in support of the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals continues to grow. Events ranging from concerts, dances, teach-ins, film screenings and prayer circles to raise awareness and urge people to take action. To find out how you can take part in the Stand Up Guinness Record- breaking attempt got to: www.standagainstpoverty.org

UN Joins Forces with European Football League to Raise Awareness of World Hunger

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is partnering with the European Professional Football League to launch a food awareness campaign. The coalition hopes to raise funds, as well as awareness, to fight global hunger and malnutrition. The number of undernourished has climbed to almost one billion people. FAO hopes that heightened awareness of the issue will help bring it to the forefront of European and global politics. The campaign is called “Professional Football Against Hunger” and represents more than 960 football leagues across Europe. Proceeds from the campaign will be used to finance micro-projects in developing countries. There are currently over 2600 projects in 130 countries.

UNICEF Aims to Increase Road Safety

Iran, a nation with twenty times the global average number of annual traffic deaths, is poised to benefit tremendously from a UNICEF led program aimed at reducing traffic mortality and injury. UNICEF’s campaign, which primarily focuses on the youth population, intends to raise awareness regarding important safety procedures and precautions, like reducing speed, wearing seatbelts, ensuring children are seated in proper restraints in the car’s back seat, and enforcing the use of helmets for bicycles and motorcycles. UNICEF will implement this program in partnership with various Iranian agencies and authorities with the hopes of dramatically reducing the number of young people who die as a result of traffic accidents. Currently, about 2,700 children under the age of fifteen and 28,000 people total die in auto-related accidents; an effectively employed effort by UNICEF will help protect the safety of Iranian children.

UN Vows to Continue Fight against Global Poverty, Despite Economic Obstacles

United Nation’s Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, has pledged relentless commitment on behalf of the United Nations to combating global poverty, even in face of concrete challenges. Speaking from United Nation’s headquarters in New York City, he said, “Everyone has felt the earthquake on Wall Street. But it has not shaken our resolve. Banks may be failing. But the world’s bottom billion can bank on us.” Despite seriously troubled economic circumstances, in September, member nations pledged sixteen billion dollars to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals, a positive sign that the goals may be met by their target year, 2015. A general consensus seems to exist among member states that hard economic times are no reason to slow poverty reduction and development efforts. In addition to continued financial support, Secretary General Ban also asserted the importance of progress in the Doha Round and the possibility of expanding the G-8. While the dramatically growing prices of food and fuel are not good news for anyone, the world’s poor can rest assured that the United Nations, as always, will strive to keep the battle against the global poverty pandemic at the forefront of the international agenda.

UN Common Humanitarian Fund to Benefit One Million in Central African Republic

The Central African Republic (CAR), having been subjected to violence as a result of spill-over from Darfur, will receive money from the new United Nations Common Humanitarian Fund. The increasing instability in CAR, a result of the escalating violence neighboring Chad and Sudan’s Darfur region, has affected more than one million people in the country. 2.5 million dollars has been pledged by the United States, directing the funds to be focused on health care, access to water, survival of infants and young people, and aid to help those who have been displaced. The new funding will allow humanitarian action to be more efficient; it will be directed to the 110,000 displaced people and the one million others affected by the conflict. The influx of funds will allow those on the ground to respond to emergencies faster and more efficiently.